केन्द्रीय विद्यालय संगठन, बेंगलरू

ु संभाग
KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA SANGATHAN, BENGALURU REGION
प्रथम प्री-बोर्ड 2024-25
FIRST PRE-BOARD EXAMINATION 2024-25

Class: 12 Max Marks: 80

Subject: English Core (301) Time: 3 Hrs

General Instructions

Read the following instructions very carefully and strictly follow them:
General Instructions:
1. The Question Paper contains THREE sections-READING, WRITING and LITERATURE.
2. Check that this question paper contains 9 printed pages.
3. Check that this question paper contains 13 questions.
4. Attempt questions based on specific instructions for each part.
5. Adhere strictly to the word limit while answering the questions

SECTION-A READING – 22MARKS

1. Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: 12 M

1. The green hills of Meghalaya state—a high, sodden, rumpled, and stream-slashed
corner of India’s remote and beautiful north eastern panhandle—can be a misery to
walk. The corrugated slopes, sheeted in mist, are clogged with jungle undergrowth
and greased with mud. During the monsoon rains, foot trails between villages plunge
again and again into gorges that hiss with waterfalls and fierce, impassable rivers.
Navigating these natural obstacles—in a climate where 40 feet of rainwater plummets
from the sky every year—requires clever toes, iron lungs, and the power of prolonged
observation. It demands thousands of years of attentiveness, lifetimes of
experimentation and generations of problem solving.
2. The result, courtesy of the ingenuity of the Khasi and Jaintia people who trek these
paths from their first baby steps: the living tree-root bridges of the Cherrapunji region.
The locally abundant Indian rubber tree, Ficus elastica, produces strong, rope-like
aerial roots that, when lashed onto a scaffold of hollowed-out betel nut trunks, or tied
to bamboo stalks, can be trained patiently over decades to grow horizontally across
steep ravines and river banks. Eventually, with aching slowness, yet tirelessly,
steadily, the roots are coaxed to entwine, to form the struts and supports for living
footbridges that can hold up to 50 people at a time.
3. Modern wood or steel bridges rot quickly into disrepair in the lush hills of
Meghalaya, a global hot spot of botanical diversity (more than 3,000 flowering plant
species) and a crossroads of human culture (three major ethnic groups and dozens of
clans). By contrast, the tree-root bridges endure for 500 or 600 years and grow stronger
overtime.
4. To step across such organic structures—a rare, harmonious collaboration between
the human imagination and the growing muscle of nature—is literally a moving
experience. The root bridges of Cherrapunji give softly, almost imperceptibly,

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underfoot. They cradle the body’s weight in a supple way that lifeless concrete and
metal never could. Underhand, through the railings made of living tissue, you feel the
immense power of the joined trees. You span time.
5. Some of the living bridges of Cherrapunji grew when the feudal kingdom of Ahom,
invaders from what is today Myanmar, ruled over the Meghalaya hills. They were
carrying walkers when, according to the “Report on the Khasi and Jaintia Hills - 1853”
by A.J.M. Mills (with an introduction by Dr. J.B. Battacharjee), the corrupt British
colonial trader Harry Inglis terrorized the people of the frontier region through torture
and assassination in the 1830s and 1840s. “After his death, his widow Sophie installed
her husband's corpse in a glass coffin on the verandah, telling the Khasis 'that he would
rise from the dead and avenge himself on any person who wronged her,” wrote one
historian of the East Khasi Hills. “Sophie's logic played on the fear the Khasis still felt
of Harry's power, even in death.”
6. And they bore my walking partner, Priyanka Borpujari, and I onward into the future,
over the trails of north eastern India.For a few steps on our long journey, we inched
eastward, toward Myanmar, on bridges that breathed. On architecture built of
memory. Of rain and sunlight. ( Courtesy)Paul Salopek , National Geographic

Q1.Why does the writer say that a walk in Meghalaya needs clever toes?
A. because you need to walk barefoot.
B. because you have to maintain a careful grip all the time.
C. because you can get distracted by the scenic beauty.
D. because it rains all the time.

Q2.The living bridges are the result of------

1. experimentation
2. problem solving skills
3. blind trust in nature
4. tribal wisdom.
A. 1 and 2 B. 1,2 and 3
C. 2 and 4 D. All of the above

Q3.Does the author enjoy walk through the lush green hills of Meghalaya? Support
your answer.

Q4. In Meghalaya “Living Bridges” are preferred to modern wood or steel bridges. 1/2+1/2
Why? (State two reasons)

Q5. “Modern wood or steel bridges rot quickly into disrepair in the lush hills of
Meghalaya”- This sentence reflects-
A. The writer’s disapproval of modern styles of construction.
B. The reason that led to the birth of the living bridges.
C. The unfriendly climatic conditions present.
D. None of the above.

Q6.The word’ corrugated’ in the passage refers to-

A. The strength of the rocks and mud. B. The slippery slopes
C. The uneven, ridged surfaces D. The sharp corners.

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 Q7.Choose the correct order.
A. hollowed out betel nut trunks, scaffolds built, aerial roots lashed on
B. Bamboos, growing over ravines, roots entwining
C. roots are entwined, struts are formed, scaffolds built
D. bamboos cut, roots entwined, scaffolds built over ravines

Q8. Assertion: Modern wood or steel bridges rot quickly into disrepair in the lush
hills of Meghalaya
Reasoning: Meghalaya is a global hot spot of botanical diversity (more than 3,000
flowering plant species) and a crossroads of human culture.
Choose the correct expression below
A.Both the assertion and reasoning are true. Sentence 2 is the reason for sentence 1.
B.The assertion is true: its reasoning is not justified.
C.Both assertion and reasoning are false.
D.None of the above.

Q9. “The root bridges of Cherrapunji give softly, almost imperceptibly, underfoot.”
Find out which sentence among those given below uses the word ‘give’ with the
same meaning.
A.The world thrives on give and take.
B.Give the word and the battle shall stop.
C.The trapdoor gave an inch, when pushed hard.
D.I will give away what I can’t consume.

Q10.Walking on a living bridge is styled as spanning time because—

A.It took a long time for the bridge to grow into its present state.
B.The bridge is the result of the wisdom and experimentation of generations.
C.The bridge is too big to span with bare feet.
D.It is a timeless experience.

Q11. “Sophie's logic played on the fear the Khasis , still felt of Harry's power, even
in death.”Find out from those given below, a sentence, where the word “played” is
NOT used in the same sense.
A.The wicked man played on her feelings, to steal all her wealth.
B.Don’t get played on by the worldly wise.
C.Ellen was the stage where the blustering drama of Gerald played on.
D.They play on and prey on the weakness of their opponents.

Q.12.In the last paragraph of the passage, the writer talks about Harry Inglis and his
wife Sophie. This can be called as a-----
A.digression. B.development.
C.branching out D.retreat.

2 Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: 10 M

1. Among the natural resources which can be called upon in national plans for
development, possibly the most important is human labour. Since the English
language suffers from a certain weakness in its ability to describe groups composed

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of both male and female members, this is usually described as “manpower”. Without
a productive labour force, including effective leadership and intelligent middle
management, no amount of foreign assistance or of natural wealth can ensure
successful development and modernization.
2. The manpower for development during the next quarter of century will come from
the world’s present population of infants, children and adolescents. But we are not
sure that they will be equal to task. Will they have the health, the education, the skills,
the socio-cultural attitudes essential for the responsibilities of development?. For far
too many of them the answer is no. The reason is basic. A child’s most critical years,
with regard to physical, intellectual, social, and emotional development, are those
before he reaches five years of age. During those critical formative years he is cared
for almost exclusively by his mother and in many parts of the world the mother may
not have the capacity to raise a superior child. She is incapable of doing so by reason
of her own poor health, her ignorance and her lack of status and recognition of social
and legal rights, of economic party of independence. One essential factor has been
overlooked and ignored. The forgotten factor is the role of women. Development will
be handicapped as long as women remain second class citizen, uneducated without
any voice in family or community, decisions without legal or economic status, married
when they are still practically children, and henceforth producing one baby after
another, often to see half of them die before they are of school age.

3. We can enhance development by improving ‘women power, by giving women the

opportunity to develop themselves. Statistics show that the average family size
increases in inverse ratio to the mother’s years of education- is lowest among college
graduates, highest among those with only primary school training,or no education.
Malnutrition is most frequent in large families, and increases in frequency with each
additional sibling. The principle seems established that an educated mother has
healthier and more intelligent children, and that is related to the fact that she has fewer
children. The tendency of educated, upper class mothers to have fewer children
operates even without access to contraceptive services.

4. The educational level of women is significant also because it has a direct influence
upon their chances of employment, and the number of employed women in country’s
total labour force has a direct bearing on both the gross national product and
disposable income of the individual family. Disposable income, especially in the
hands of women, influences food purchasing and therefore the nutritional status of the
family. The fact that the additional income derives from the paid employment of
women provides a logical incentive to restrict the size of the family.

5. The education level of women has direct impact on maternal mortality as well, as
seen in the graph given below.

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It shows the relation between education level of women and maternal death while
giving birth.
Q1. According to the passage, the development can be enhanced by improving ____.

Q2. Human labour is usually described as ‘manpower’ because __________.

Q3. According to the passage, which are the most critical years for a child’s
development?

Q4. Pick out the option that is not true with reference to the above passage.
1. In many parts of the world, a woman is not capable to raise a superior child due to
her poor health.
2. Mother plays an important role in over all development of a child.
3. Development can never be improved till the time women are considered second
class citizen.
4. The larger a family is, the healthier it will be since it has more members to work
and earn money.
(a) Both 1 and 2 (b) only 4
(c) only 3 (d) Both 2 and 3

5. According to the passage, malnutrition is most common in

(a) small families (b) large families (c) nuclear families (d) joint families

6. As per the principle mentioned in the above passage, it seems that a/an _____
mother has healthier and more intelligent children.

7. What factor is there that weakens a woman’s identity as an individual?

1. Consideration of women as a second class citizen.
2. Responsibilities that are laid on a woman’s shoulder.
3. Marriage at a very young age.
4. Ignorance in her social and legal rights.
5. Being financially independent.
(a) 1, 2 and 3 (b) 2, 3 and 4
(c) 1, 3, and 4 (d) 2, 4 and 5
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 8. The educational level of women is significant and it also has a direct bearing on
1. her personal status
2. the gross national product
3. disposable income of the individual
4. the marketing of local products
(a) 1 and 2 (b) 2 and 3
(c) 3 and 4 (d) 2 and 4

9. Women, falling in which education level are prone to highest chances of maternal
death?

10.What percentage of women in “Lower secondary education level” is prone to

maternal death?

SECTION-B WRITING – 18 MARKS

3. Attempt ANY ONE of two in about 50 words. 4M
A. Mebin Public School will be conducting an online course on Developing 21st
Century Skills during the summer vacations for students of Class X - XII. In this
course, students will learn various skills required to thrive in a rapidly changing
world. As Rutwik Sen/ Rutvika Sen, Secretary of Literary Club, draft a notice in
about 50 words for the school notice board, urging students to sign up. Mention any
other relevant details required for the notice.
OR
B The Teen Well-Being Association of your society, EcoTech World, Sector 13,
Chandigarh, will be holding free yoga classes on Sunday mornings, in the common
hall. As a member of the association, draft a notice in about 50 words informing the
young residents. Mention any other relevant details required for the notice.
4. Attempt ANY ONE of two in about 50 words. 4M
A Draft an invitation on behalf of Mr.& Mrs. Raj Karan of 38, Kamal Kunj, Varanasi,
which they may use to invite their friends and relatives on the 5th birth anniversary
of their son Nikhil at their residence on 28 December 2024.

OR
B You are Natasha, residing in Pune. Your cousin, from the same city is hosting your
grandmother’s eightieth birth anniversary and has extended an invite to you. He has
also requested your assistance for arrangements needed. Draft a reply of acceptance,
in not more than 50 words.

5 Attempt ANY ONE of two in about 120-150 words. 5M

A You are Shobana/Shabeer, residing in Prestige apartments, CV Raman Nagar,
Bengaluru. You are concerned about the garbage collection in your locality as it is
done without proper segregation. Write a letter to the Editor of a national daily in
about 120-150 words explaining your concern along with the rationale behind the
importance of garbage segregation. Suggests ways in which the Residents welfare
association (RWA) can participate in this programme.

OR

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B Draft an application for the post of an accountant in Pioneers (Pvt.) Ltd. Co.
Hyderabad in response to their advertisement that appeared in The Times of India
dated 31st October, 2024. Prepare a bio-data to be enclosed. You are Nipun/Aparna.

6 Attempt ANY ONE of two given below in about 120-150 words 5M

A “The five integral components of sports training are: stamina ,speed, strength, skill
and spirit; But the greatest of these is spirit.” – Ken Doherty.
More lessons are learnt on the sports field than in the classroom. Write an article for
the school magazine expressing your views.

OR
B With a view to create awareness regarding health, St. Anne’s school organised
‘Health Mela’ in the school premises. Various charts, models and fitness equipment
were displayed. Lectures, debates, discussions and plays were organised. A
workshop on low calorie cooking was also organised. Write a report on the ‘health
Mela’ for the school Magazine. You are Neha/ Nikhil, Secretary of the School.

SECTION-C LITERATURE – 40 MARKS

7 Attempt ANY ONE from the given below: 6M
Read the given extract and answer the questions that follow:
A And looked out at Young
Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling
out of their homes, but after the airport’s
security check, standing a few yards
away, I looked again at her, wan,
pale
as a late winter’s moon and felt that
old
familiar ache…

1) I looked again at her- here ‘I’ and ‘Her’ refer to

A. Poet and her mother B. Poet and her friend
C. Mother and poet D. Mother and Grandmother

2) Choose the option that appropriately describes the relationship between the
two statements given below.
Statement 1: The poet knows her mother has aged.
Statement 2: The poet feels the pain of separation.
A. Beginning – Ending B. Cause – Effect
C. Question – Answer D. Introduction – Conclusion
3) Choose the option that completes the sentence given below.
Just as the brightness of the winter’s moon is veiled behind the haze and
mist, similarly, .
A. The pain of separation has shaded mother’s expression.
B. Age has fogged mother’s youthful appearance.
C. Growing up has developed a seasoned maturity in the poet.
D. Memories warm the heart like the pale moon in winter.

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 4) When the daughter looked at her mother again she felt a pang of
A. Her familiar ache B. Guilt C. Heartache D.A headache
5) “Trees sprinting” is a poetic device. It is
A. Personification B. Alliteration
C. Repetition D. Simile
6) What question arises from the complexity of the situation in the poem?
A. What to do in old age
B. How to take care of one’s skin
C. How to drive
D. How to strike a balance between duties and responsibilities

OR
B “When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie
Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by.
The tigers in the panel that she made
Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid.”

1. Name the poetic device used in the 2nd line of the above extract.
2. Aunt Jennifer’s plight is best explained by her hands, they hold both her freedom
and the instrument of her imprisonment.
Choose the option that best explains the above statement, as per the extract.
A) Aunt Jennifer’s hands are terrified, but when she is dead, her tigers will roam
free.
B) Aunt Jennifer knits her desires, but is overpowered by the wedding ring she
wears.
C) Aunt Jennifer’s tigers are proud and unafraid, but she is mastered by ringed
ordeals.
D) Aunt Jennifer makes panels of tigers when she has time from her responsibilities.

3. Which of the following CANNOT be inferred from the given extract?

A) Aunt Jennifer’s tigers will keep her alive in everyone’s memory.
B) Aunt Jennifer feels oppressed and constricted in her marriage.
C) Even in death, Aunt Jennifer cannot escape patriarchal subjugation.
D) Aunt Jennifer’s tigers prance as a lasting symbol of her desires

4. What makes the tigers “proud and unafraid”?

A) They embody the grandeur and supremacy of animals in the wild.
B) They symbolize authority and are ‘topaz denizens of green’.
C) They represent Aunt’s repressed desires for freedom and power.
D) They are a product of Aunt’s imagination and colonial experience.

5. Choose the option that DOES NOT reflect the movement implied by ‘prancing’.
A) Bounding
B) Frolicking
C) Strutting
D) Shuffling

6. What will happen to the tigers after the death of Aunt Jennifer?

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8 Read the given extracts to attempt the Questions with reference to the context. 4M
( Attempt ANY ONE)
A
Sometimes I think Grand Central is growing like a tree, pushing out new
corridors and staircases like roots. There’s probably a long tunnel that nobody
knows about feeling its way under the city right now, on its way to Times Square,
and maybe another to Central Park. And maybe — because for so many people
through the years Grand Central has been an exit, a way of escape — maybe
that’s how the tunnel I got into... But I never told my psychiatrist friend about
that idea.
1) The above extract is NOT an example of .
A. allegory B. analogy
C. imagery D. metaphor

2) Charley decided to tell his psychiatrist friend about his idea. Choose the option
that reflects the reaction Charley got from his friend.
A. “That’s such a lovely comparison. Why don’t you become a writer, Charley?”
B. “Oh Charley. It is so sad to see your desperation to run away! So very sad.”
C. “Maybe that’s how you entered the third level. Who would have thought?!”
D. “You need help, my raving friend. You are way too invested in this crazy
thought!”

3) Look at the given expressions that list some of the ways in which the
symbolism of a tree is employed. Which of the following would represent an
example as used by Charley in the above extract?
A. ‘Stay grounded’ as the train station is underground.
B. ‘Connect with your roots’ as he desires to go back to his past.
C. ‘Enjoy the view’ as the station leads to all tourist sights of the city.
D. ‘Keep growing’ as the station keeps renovating and expanding.

4) The idiom ‘feeling its way’ implies _________ movement.

A. swift B. tentative
C. circular D. disorganized

OR
B "The master ought not to heal the wound of this white man," he said bluntly to
Hana. "The Whiteman ought to die. First, he was shot. Then the sea caught him and
wounded him with her rocks. If the master heals what the gun did and what the sea
did, they will take revenge on us."

1) Who said not to heal the wound?

A. Yumi B. The old gardener
C. The cook D. Hana

2) The 'sea caught' means:

A. The sea has become friendly B. The sea has called him
C. The sea has punished D. The sea has arrested

3) The speaker believed that:

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 A. The sea would take revenge on them if they heal him
B. He would be drowned in the sea if they heal him
C. The sea will shoot him
D. All of the above

4) What had the sea done to the white man?

A. It has taken revenge on the white man
B. It has caused wounds to him with its sharp rocks
C. It has shot the white man with a gun
D. All of the above

9 Read the given extracts to attempt the Questions with Reference to context. 6M
(Attempt ANY ONE)
A “Since you have been so nice to me all day long, as if I was a captain, I want to be
nice to you, in return, as if I was a real captain — for I do not want you to be
embarrassed at this Christmas season by a thief; but you can give back the money to
the old man on the roadside, who has the money pouch hanging on the window
frame as a bait for poor wanderers. The rattrap is a Christmas present from a rat who
would have been caught in this world’s rattrap if he had not been raised to captain,
because in that way he got power to clear himself.
“Written with friendship
and high regard,
Captain von Stahle.”
1. Which of the following CANNOT be attributed to the peddler, according to the
above extract?
a) indebtedness b) reform
c) self-pity d) self-awareness

2. Why did the peddler gift a rattrap as a Christmas present?

a) It was all the peddler had that he could give away, and represented his turn to
honesty.
b) It symbolized his successful escape from entrapment as he returned the stolen
money.
c) It served as a reminder for Edla to be wary of the dangerous temptations of the
world.
d) It was a practical and convenient present that the lady of the house could
effectively use.
3. The word ‘embarrassed’ does not denote:
a) awkward b) self-conscious
c) unashamed d) inhibited
4. This communication includes
1) a promise 2) regret 3) an apology 4) shame
a) only 4 b) only 1
c) 1 & 3 d) 2 & 4
5. Was Edla happy to see the gift left by the peddler? Why / Why not? (2 m)

OR
B Morning found the town of Motihari black with peasants. They did not know
Gandhi’s record in South Africa. They had merely heard that a Mahatma who
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 wanted to help them was in trouble with the authorities. Their spontaneous
demonstration, in thousands, around the courthouse was the beginning of their
liberation from fear of the British.
The officials felt powerless without Gandhi’s cooperation. He helped them regulate
the crowd. He was polite and friendly. He was giving them concrete proof that their
might, hitherto dreaded and unquestioned, could be challenged by Indians.
The government was baffled. The prosecutor requested the judge to postpone the
trial. Apparently, the authorities wished to consult their superiors.

1. The action of the peasants in the above extract can be understood as an example of
which of the following Gandhian principles:
(i) self-rule
(ii) non-violence
(iii) civil disobedience
A. (i) and (ii) B. (i) and (iii)
C. (ii) and (iii) D. (i), (ii) and (iii)

2. Select the proverb that sums up the essence of the above extract.
A. Barking dogs seldom bite. B. Beggars can't be choosers.
C. A spark can start a great fire. D. A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.

3. According to the extract, which of the following is NOT true?

A. The revolting farmers had burned black the town of Motihari.
B. The protest by the revolting farmers had perplexed the government.
C. The officials banked on Gandhi's support to control the revolting farmers.
D. The revolting farmers proved to the officials that their authority was not
absolute.

4. Select the option that shows the correct relationship between (1) and (2).
(1) The authorities were puzzled.
(2) They asked their prosecutor to request the judge for more time.
A. (1) is the effect of (2). B. (1) is the cause of (2).
C. (1) is true but (2) is false. D. (1) furthers the meaning of (2).
5.What was the effect of ‘consulting the superiors’?
6. Choose the word which has the similar meaning as - ‘perplexed’

10. Answer ANY FIVE out of six following questions in 40-50 words each: 10 M
1. Why do you think Mukesh is content to dream of cars and doesn’t dream of
flying a plane?

2. “I work in empty spaces”. Describe Eco’s idea of empty spaces.

3. Damn that Geoff, this was a Geoff thing not a Jansie thing: Why did Sophie say
so?

4. What were Franz’s emotions at the sound of the trunks being packed upstairs?

5. Why didn’t the polished traffic stop at “The Roadside Stand”?

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 6. According to John Keats, what makes human beings love life in spite of troubles
and sufferings?

11. Answer ANY TWO out of three following questions in 40-50 words each: 4M
1. Why did kids call Mr. ‘Lamb Lamey-Lamb’? How does he feel about it?

2. The future of the Tiger King was foreseen when he was only 10 days old. What was
ironic about it?

3. How would you explain the reluctance of the soldier to leave the shelter of the doctor’s
home even when he knew he couldn’t stay there without risk to the doctor and himself?

12 Answer ANY ONE out of two following questions in 120-150 words each: 5M

A Douglas’ mother writes to the YMCA authorities holding them accountable for the
mishap as well as demanding that the authorities employ a team of guards near the
pool for supervision of the children. As the mother, write a letter to the authorities
with reference to the case of your son.

OR
B Imagine Asokamitran witnesses a film shooting and visits a film set of present- day
Bollywood. As Asokamitran write a diary entry penning down the transformation
you notice between film making of yesteryears and today.

13 Answer ANY ONE out of two following questions in 120-150 words each: 5M

A Explain how the author uses the journey to Antarctica as a metaphor for understanding
broader environmental issues and the impact of human activities on the planet.

OR
B It may take a long time for oppression to be resisted, but the seeds of rebellion are
sowed early in life. Do you agree that injustice in any form cannot escape being
noticed even by children? Attempt this question with reference to the chapter
Memories of Childhood.

************

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